The Squirrel and the Leaf
by RainSpell
Summary: Squirrelflight and Leafpool go their seprate ways, but are connected by their empathy link. What happens when the Dark Forest lays seige on the Clans?
1. Brambleclaw

**AN: Okay, this is my second attempt at a warriors fanfic. Please tell me if you like it or not. Just a simple sentence. "I like it." Or, "I don't like it." Pleeeeease?**

**By the way, I don't own warriors. All characters SO FAR belong to Erin Hunter. **

**Chapter 1**

Squirrelflight sighed, her head on her paws. She stared outside at the large trunk, and, past that, the twinkling starts. _Each one is a fallen warrior._ _Each one is a reminder of how long the Clans have been here. How long they have survived. _"At least, that's what I feel." She whispered the last line aloud. Behind her, a few bodies grunted and turned. The ginger she-cat could have moved towards the center, where it was warmer, but it also meant too-long stares, hardened expressions, a few I-don't-like-what-you-did-but-I'll-be-nice-to-you-anyway looks, and….a certain tabby tom.

Again, the infamous she-cat sighed. So many lies. So much heartbreak. So much pain. She wished that Brambleclaw would understand _why_ she didn't tell him. After all, he was deputy. A deputy is supposed to follow the warrior code, and report things to his leader, right? And how could she bear to have her sister, and her kits, treated with caution, disrespect, or hate? If only….If only she could spill out her thoughts right now. Finally, sleep came. She closed her eyes and waited for the next morning to come. Waited for the stares, the whispers, and the loneliness.

The next day, Leafpool started towards the medicine cat's den, only to stop, remembering that she was a warrior now. She padded towards the fresh-kill pile and selected a finch. She heard a quiet growl, and looked up. Amber eyes bore into her face, full of ice. "Hunt first. Eat later. Even _you_ should know by now." He hissed. The light tabby she-cat flinched and dropped her bird on the ground. She plodded over to Squirrelflight and they started sharing tongues in quiet voices. Brambleclaw started organizing patrols, and both she-cats lifted their heads. As the patrols left, Cinderheart and Lionblaze took Ivypaw and Dovepaw to training. Then the dark tabby tom turned his gaze to the leader's daughters.

Squirrelflight took a deep breath, and stood. She looked into her former mate's eyes, and spoke, her voice ringing around the camp. "Brambleclaw. You're so cold now. Do you ever feel warm inside?" He looked surprised, and opened his jaws, but Squirrelflight continued. "I feel like I'm holding the whole camp on my shoulders, and I don't mean duty. Be honest now. Will you ever forgive me?" The ginger she-cat stared at the tom, waiting, not breaking eye-contact. Brambleclaw stared back for second. _Will I ever forgive her? Do I still love her?_ He made a decision and opened his jaws.

**Haha. Left you hanging. Hopefully. I can't decide. Please help me out.**

**Bramble says yes.**

**Bramble says no.**

**Bramble says yes, just not now.**

**Thank you all for reading this far!**


	2. Fox!

**Chapter 2**

**Hi everybody! Did you like my chapter? I will not be updating very often, as writing is just hobby. Please read!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own warriors. All characters belong to Erin Hunter.**

"I…I..Squirrelflight.." stammered Brambleclaw. The red she-cat looked up at him and waited anxiously. The few cats still in camp were watching with amused expressions. The dark tabby tom looked around, took in a breath, and mumbled, "Squirrelflight. I love you." Then he jumped down and padded out of camp, startled by his answer. Leafpool smiled at her sister, happy, but an ache settled in her heart. "Good for you, Squirrelflight." She murmured, before walking out of camp herself.

Squirrelflight sat in the clearing for a few moments, stunned. She wasn't expecting that answer. Guess Leafpool would have to call of their little…trip. She stood and shook, before heading out to hunt, relieved that her favorite tom had forgiven her. She spotted a finch, and started stalking. A rustle in the bushes scared the bird, and it flew away to safety. The tabby she-cat cursed, and went to the bush. Suddenly, a fox leaped towards her. With a sinking heart, Squirrelflight realized that the clearing had a faint fox smell. The fox was running weirdly, and the she-cat guessed it had been injured and unable to return to its den. She snarled and charged.

The fox yelped in surprise as the red blur it had been hunting flew out of the trees, but quickly recovered. It swatted at the blur but missed. Squirrelflight rammed into her enemy and knocked it over. She clawed at its soft belly as the fox bit and scratched as well. She felt pain flash through her shoulder, and something hot run down her leg. She backed off a little, but that was all the fox needed. It leaped to its feet, bleeding and bruised. The fox lunged at the cat and Squirrelflight cried out. She had been too slow to dodge and the fox caught her shoulder. Squirrelflight's vision was dimming; everything was soft and blurred. Suddenly, a dark shape hurtled towards the fox. It landed on the fox's back, clawing furiously. The tabby she-cat could tell it was a cat, but her mind wouldn't process anything further.

Squirrelflight pushed against the fox weakly, and it let go. She scrambled out of the way as another cat flew towards her attacker. This one was lighter, brown and white. The pair of cats clawed and scratched, until the fox streaked for the border. The dark colored cat turned it away, and the fox ran along the border and out of sight. "Squirrelflight?"

**Can you guess which cats saved Squirrelflight? I've got a question to ask. Do you think Leafpool should run away in this story? Or stay?**


	3. The Crow And His Leaf

**Chapter 3**

**Hey guys! Thanks to **omg-KITTENS **and **Firezbirdz**for reviewing. Sorry omg-KITTENS, but I'm disabling anonymous reviews because **_**somebody**_** trashed the review button. Namely my little brother, AKA **Hey Wildstar its me**. By the way, it's not Brambleclaw.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own warriors. All characters belong to Erin Hunter.**

"Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight." "Shhh… I think I hear a patrol."Soft voices entered Squirrelflight's mind and she opened her eyes. A worried face peered down at her. "She's awake!" It said. _Leafpool_. Thought Squirrelflight. She opened her jaws to ask what had happened, but only a hoarse cry escaped her throat. "I'll get water." a lower voice said. Leafpool nodded and sat back.

The ginger she-cat pushed herself up and managed to sit up, though a bit awkwardly. She looked at her surroundings and saw dirt everywhere. Then she craned her neck backwards and realized that they were in a den of some sort. She opened her mouth slightly and sniffed hard. _Badger_. A dark shape blotted out the sky and came in. "Here you go Squirrelflight." It was Crowfeather. "Thanks Crowfeather." Leafpool said quietly. Squirrelflight gratefully lapped up the water from the moss and swallowed. "What happened?" She asked.

The two slender cats looked at each other, and Leafpool nodded. "Fox. What were you thinking?" Leafpool raised her voice slightly in exasperation. Squirrelflight licked her chest in embarrassment. "Well…I saw, well, heard, the fox, and looked up. It was limping and coming towards me. It was obviously hunting me, so I attacked first." She explained. Leafpool sighed. "You're lucky Crowfeather and I were nearby." The ginger tabby bowed her head. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"You should get going. Your wounds can be taken care of better by Jayfeather, and Brambleclaw might be worried." At the last sentence the light-brown tabby's whiskers twitched. It had been too long since that statement had been true. She gently nudged her sister towards the opening. Squirrelflight got to her feet unsteadily and headed out. She paused, and turned back. "What about you? And what's Crowfeather doing on our territory?" She asked. "The river's over there." She said, waving her tail. Crowfeather looked down at his paws. Leafpool sighed and said, "Just go. Roll in the grass and don't mention us. Hurry!"

Squirrelflight gave her sister a pained look, but she rolled in the grass as a few faint voices were heard. She wobbled over to meet the patrol. She glanced back and briefly saw a black paw drag a few branches over the opening. "Squirrelflight! What happened?" The Thunderclan patrol raced over. Icecloud quickly sniffed her wound, which had reopened. Brackenfur ordered Icecloud and Spiderleg to help Squirrelflight back to camp. He and Rosepetal would continue checking the borders. The ginger she-cat leaned on Icecloud's shoulder as they headed for the camp, her shoulder bleeding.

**So, how was it? From now on, I will alternate the POV from Squirrelflight and Leafpool. **

**Can you guess why the Windclan warrior is on Thunderclan territory? I'll give you a hint.**

'**There's always time for second chances.'**


	4. MoonHigh

**Hello! Bet you all forgot about this haven't you? Sorry. **omg-kittens**, you can re view again, if you're reading this. And all you anonymous reviewers out there as well. :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own warriors. All characters belong to Erin Hunter.**

Leafpool's whiskers twitched in amusement as the lanky black tom paced the den. He could only make about 3 steps before he had to turn around. It looked like he was chasing his tail, albeit slower.

"What?" He snapped, lashing his tail. Leafpool sighed, and got up. "Moon-high won't come any faster by you getting dizzy." She purred.

He stopped and flopped down. "Yes, you're right. But it takes so long!" He said. Leafpool laughed inside again. Her fearsome, grouchy mate was acting like a kit begging to be apprenticed before 6 moons. She lay down as well, and the two shared tongues. Soon, they fell asleep. The moon rose high into the sky, illuminating the water and turning the lake silver. But no one was there to see the picturesque view.

_Two cats fighting, both in the shadows. The claws of one raked down the shoulder of the other. Then the second cat bit the first and pushed, sending it sprawling. Suddenly, the shadows revealed one more cat on each side. Leafpool cried out and pushed forward, trying to stop them. She slammed into the first cat, and saw its eyes. Amber. Like her own. Heart beating, she turned towards the second cat. Green eyes. Emerald green. All four cats melted away, leaving just the two pairs of eyes. Dancing now, mocking. Green and amber. Amber and green. Suddenly, they jumped at her. Leafpool yowled in terror and dived into inky blackness. _

"Leafpool! We overslept!" Crowfeather hissed. Leafpool snapped open her eyes, and nearly yowled again when she saw blue eyes peering down at her. At the last moment, she realized she was awake, and they were Crowfeather's eyes. She registered what he said, and scrambled to her feet. The moon was half-way down. "Oh, no." She said. "Let's get moving. Too dangerous to stay here." She said, pushing the cover away.

Crowfeather followed. The pair slunk through the darkness, stopping often and checking the air. They had made it to the river bordering WindClan and ThunderClan, and both let out the breaths they hadn't known they were holding. At that moment, the bushes quivered. Crowfeather stiffened, and Leafpool quickly scented the air. Nothing…The leaves rustled again, and a low rumbling sound came from the bush. Crowfeather's claws slid out, and he crouched, ready to pounce. "Stop!" Leafpool said, bounding forwards. A bright orange head popped out, looked around fearfully, then relaxed as it recognized the pair.

"What are you doing here?" She exclaimed. Leafpool frowned. "What do you mean? You're out here alone, in the middle of the night. Shouldn't I ask you what you're doing?" Squirrelflight's eyes flashed. "I thought you'd left already!"

"Quiet down, I bet RiverClan can hear your yowling!" Crowfeather hissed. The two she-cats lowered their voices. "Well, we haven't." Leafpool said flatly. Squirrelflight sighed, and stepped out of the bushes. "Brambleclaw…He…He's still a little angry." She said, looking down at her paws. Leafpool softened, and lay her tail on her sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry." She opened her jaws to ask why, when the ginger she-cat's head shot up. "You SHOULD be sorry!" She hissed, anger blazing in her eyes.

"I kept YOUR secret, and I lost my mate, my Clanmate's trust, even Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf!" She continued, stumbling slightly over the last name. Leafpool backed away, shocked. "And now look, you're running off again, leaving me here to take the blame. Brambleclaw says I had no reason to keep the secret, except that we're kin. And I realized that he's right! When you leave, I'm telling the whole Clan about you and your little prince here." Squirrelflight finished.

"Squirrelflight…I." Leafpool started. But the ginger tabby butted her in the shoulder, hard, then turned tail and stalked away. A wave of anger washed over the other sister, and she stood, growling. "Let's go." She said briskly, bounding over the river and off beyond the moon pool. Crowfeather shook his head in bewilderment, but raced alongside his mate.

**Drama time! What do you think? Is it Squirrelflight's fault for keeping Brambleclaw in the dark? Or not? I think it's half- and –half. Oh, and while you're telling me, why don't you inform me of how this chapter was? :D**

_**Signed,**_

_**Wildstar.**_


End file.
